I use clear nail polish to fix microscope specimens onto a slide. Drop the polish on top of the specimen and gently lower a cover slip onto it. The cover slip will push the polish to the edge filling the space between it and the slide. Don't push it down as this will cause bubbles. I don't expect this method will last as long as a proper Canada balsam slide but I've got several that are a decade old and still looking good.

May I warn you good people that using an old flashgun on a modern digital camera can be dangerous to the camera. The voltage across the pins can be 200-600 volts. Modern flashes are a maximum of about 20 volts. Check out the trigger voltage of your flashgun here: http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.htmlAn excellent tutorial

Measurements in inches! We are metric in almost every other part of the world. I suggest you research the metric equivalent before your next instructable. We (the rest of the world), mostly take in to account the differences in American culture and reflect this in our instructables. Thanks.Oh, yes and its a good instructable. I would worry about noise being transmitted to the camera as its mainly pipe.